We Should All Be Birds by Brian Buckbee
A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man.
“I loved every page of this book: funny, sad, romantic, and full of pigeons.”—Sy Montgomery
- Sale Date
- ISBN
- 9781963108293
- Page Count
- 256
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 5¾ x 8¾
- Imprint
- Tin House
Meet the Author
Brian Buckbee
Longlisted for the 2026 Reading the West Awards
A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man.
“I loved every page of this book: funny, sad, romantic, and full of pigeons.”—Sy Montgomery
On a spring evening in Montana, Brian Buckbee encounters an injured baby pigeon. Heartbroken after the loss of the love of his life and increasingly isolated by a mysterious illness that overtook him while trekking through Asia, Brian is unaware that this bird—who he names Two-Step—will change his life. Brian takes in Two-Step, and more injured birds, eventually transforming his home into a madcap bird rehabilitation and rescue center. As Brian and Two-Step grow closer, an unexpected kinship forms. But their paths won’t converge forever: as Two-Step heals and finds love, Brian’s condition worsens, and with his friend’s release back into the world looming closer, Brian must decide where this story leaves him.
We Should All Be Birds follows Brian, unable to read or write due to a never-ending headache, as he dictates the end of his old life—as an adventurer, an iconoclastic university instructor, and endurance athlete—through his relationship with a pigeon that comes to define his present. Limited to dictation, Brian teams up with Carol Ann Fitzgerald, an editor who channels the details of his personal history to the pages. Raw and perceptive, delirious and devastating, We Should All Be Birds is an unflinching exploration of chronic illness, grief, connection, and the spectacular beauty of the natural world—and the humble pigeon. The surprising, heartwarming relationship between man and bird provides insight into what it means to love, to suffer, and to “never forget, even for a second, how big it all is.”
A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man.
“I loved every page of this book: funny, sad, romantic, and full of pigeons.”—Sy Montgomery
On a spring evening in Montana, Brian Buckbee encounters an injured baby pigeon. Heartbroken after the loss of the love of his life and increasingly isolated by a mysterious illness that overtook him while trekking through Asia, Brian is unaware that this bird—who he names Two-Step—will change his life. Brian takes in Two-Step, and more injured birds, eventually transforming his home into a madcap bird rehabilitation and rescue center. As Brian and Two-Step grow closer, an unexpected kinship forms. But their paths won’t converge forever: as Two-Step heals and finds love, Brian’s condition worsens, and with his friend’s release back into the world looming closer, Brian must decide where this story leaves him.
We Should All Be Birds follows Brian, unable to read or write due to a never-ending headache, as he dictates the end of his old life—as an adventurer, an iconoclastic university instructor, and endurance athlete—through his relationship with a pigeon that comes to define his present. Limited to dictation, Brian teams up with Carol Ann Fitzgerald, an editor who channels the details of his personal history to the pages. Raw and perceptive, delirious and devastating, We Should All Be Birds is an unflinching exploration of chronic illness, grief, connection, and the spectacular beauty of the natural world—and the humble pigeon. The surprising, heartwarming relationship between man and bird provides insight into what it means to love, to suffer, and to “never forget, even for a second, how big it all is.”
Praise for We Should All Be Birds
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“We Should All Be Birds is about more than living with wild creatures. It’s also about grief, loss, pain,loneliness and the healing power of love. It’s sad but not depressing, loving but not maudlin, philosophical but not pompous. It’s a powerful testament to how caring for another living creature —even a wild bird — can give life meaning. It joins a flock of recent books by writers who have bonded with birds (Frieda Hughes’s George, Lili Taylor’s Turning to Birds) and other animals (Chloe Dalton’s Raising Hare), but Buckbee’s humor, intimate tone and precarious physical condition sets this book apart.”
Washington Post -
“Vibrant, lyrical, and pulsing with life and the wonder of nature…. Beautifully written and deeply moving….both elegy and paean, a celebration of life and the discovery of hope within pain.”
Shelf Awareness -
“[Reminds] the reader that opening one’s hearts to others and finding something else to care for can offer a needed distraction from loneliness that can be as debilitating as any physical symptom.”
The Epoch Times
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